UK economy falls into recession in fresh blow for Rishi Sunak - here's how it affects you
15.02.2024 - 08:55
/ dailyrecord.co.uk
Official figures released today have confirmed that the UK economy fell into recession in the final part of last year.
Rishi Sunak previously said growing the economy was one of his five key priorities as Prime Minister and the update will come as worrying news. As reported by the Mirror, it also comes three weeks before Jeremy Hunt delivers his Budget.
A recession can be defined as two quarters in a row - or two three-month consecutive periods - where gross domestic product (GDP) declines.
GDP is a measure of the size and health of the economy - and in an update today from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), it was revealed GDP shrank by 0.3% between October and December 2023. This followed a decline of 0.1% between July and September 2023, and thus meeting the technical definition of a recession.
The decline between October and December 2023 was bigger than had been expected by analysts. Most economists had been forecasting the economy to have shrunk by 0.1% - however, the data is just an estimate at the moment and can be revised at a later date.
The UK was last in recession in the first half of 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, and this lasted for six months - before this, the last recession was in 2008 during the financial crisis. The economy swerved recession at the end of 2022 after revised GDP figures came out better than expected.
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